Technical name: Service provider organisation - number of Indigenous children enrolled in a preschool program, total N[NNNN]METeOR identifier: 441259METeOR link: http://meteor.aihw.gov.au/content/index.phtml/itemId/441259METeOR definition: The total number of individual preschool program enrolments of Indigenous children at the service.

ScopeInclusions: For all early childhood education and care services that deliver a preschool program:

The total number of individual enrolments of Indigenous children in the preschool program, cross classified by sex and single year of age.

Exclusions:

Indigenous children who were not actively attending during the reference period or who were absent and not expected to return.

The number of children enrolled that fall within the category 'non-Indigenous'.

Early childhood education and care services that do not deliver a preschool program.

Underlying ConceptsConcept: Indigenous children enrolled at a preschool program.Nominal definition: An Indigenous child that has been offered a place in a preschool program and is actively attending.Indigenous: According to 'The Commonwealth Definition', 'An Aboriginal or Torres Strait Islander is a person of Aboriginal or Torres Strait Islander descent who identifies as an Aboriginal or Torres Strait Islander and is accepted as such by the community in which he or she lives'.
There are three components to the Commonwealth definition:

descent;

self-identification; and

community acceptance.

'The Commonwealth Definition' was given in a High Court judgement in the case of Commonwealth v Tasmania (1983) 46 ALR 625.Operational definition: The total number of Indigenous children that are enrolled in a preschool program. Please see data item list in Chapter 1, Collection Specifications for specific disaggregation and cross classification of this data element as specified in the 2011 ECEC Data Request.
It must be noted that data collected at the aggregate level will be published as episodes of enrolments, not number of children enrolled. This is because it is not possible to identify duplicate enrolments within aggregate collections, once jurisdictional service provider data are merged. Supporting data elements: Enrolment must be cross classified and reported by the following data elements:

The child must have been offered a place in a preschool program and actively attending to be counted as enrolled.

A child is considered to be actively attending if they have attended a preschool program for at least one hour in the reference period or was absent in the reference period due to illness or extended holiday leave but was expected to return.

The Indigenous status of the child must be the status as identified by the child's parent or guardian. See the data element Indigenous status, for further rules and definitions around identifying a child's Indigenous status.

The nominal and operational definitions of Number of Indigenous children enrolled in a preschool program differ due to the aggregate data collection methodology.

Provide a valid number of enrolled Indigenous children, otherwise amend to ‘0’ for nil Indigenous children or code ‘ns’ for unknown.

2.

If character length is greater than 5.

Provide a valid number of enrolled Indigenous children.

3.

If total number of Indigenous children enrolled is less than total number of Indigenous children attending in a preschool program.

Provide a valid number of enrolled and attending Indigenous children. Verify that enrolments are equal to or greater than number of Indigenous children attending.

4.

If total number of Indigenous children enrolled is greater than total number of children enrolled in a preschool program.

Provide a valid number of enrolled Indigenous children and correct number of total enrolled children. Verify that total number of Indigenous children enrolled are equal to or less than total number of children enrolled.

Guide for Use
This data element must be cross classified and reported by the supporting data elements listed above.

Counting rules:

The number of Indigenous children enrolled in a preschool program should be collected for each preschool program available at the service. These data should then be aggregated to the service provider level for reporting purposes.

The total number of Indigenous children enrolled, cross classified by their sex and age (as of 1 July 2011) should be reported.

A child should only be counted as being enrolled in a preschool program if they have been offered a place in a preschool program and are actively attending. A child is considered to be actively attending if they have attended a preschool program for at least one hour in the reference period or was absent in the reference period due to illness or extended holiday leave but was expected to return.

Jurisdictions that adopt a two week reference period are required to derive their data to a representative week.

Classification DefinitionsCODE ns - Not stated/inadequately described
For use when the number of Indigenous children enrolled at the service provider is unknown, not stated or inadequately described. Where the number of Indigenous children enrolled is unknown, the ABS requests that jurisdictions identify the reason for the unknown response and document any follow-up processes undertaken.

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